My Way of the Ninja
by Marine Brother Shran
Summary: [CCS&Naruto Xover] Sakura is an average 15 year old ninja living in Konoha village. She soon finds herself undergoing harsh training as the village goes to war. Full summary inside. S&S all the way!
1. Transition to Ninjahood

**My Way of the Ninja**

**Chapter I Transition to Ninja-hood**

**Hey guys, it's been a while. To those who do not know who I am, I'm Marine Brother Shran, writer of Black Wolf, White Blossom. When I'm going to update that story, god knows when. I am seriously out of ideas for that story at the moment. I may go back and revise that story another day. Anyways, this is my second CCS story; I hope that it's much better compared to BWWB.**

**This story is a Card Captor Sakura/Naruto crossover story. Takes place in the Naruto world, but will contain mostly CCS characters, but there will be some from Naruto.**

**Summary: Kinomoto Sakura is an average 15 year old ninja living in Konoha village. Her life takes a spin when the Hidden Leaf Village goes to war with the Hidden Lightning Village again. She, along with her team-mates, Li Syaoran, Hiirigizawa Eriol, team leader Uchiha Sousuke, and the rest of the village will fight. Along the way, she will learn what it means to be a ninja. Through this war, she learns the meaning of friendship, trust, teamwork, love, and discovers her way of the ninja.**

**Pairs: Sakura/Syaoran, Eriol/Tomoyo, and a few OC pairings**

"Hoe, I'm going to be late!" a girl cried out as she bolted down the streets. "Of all the days I have to be late it just had to be my graduation exam!" The girl tore through the streets as she ducked in and out through the crowd of people going about their business. She thanked her ninjutsu training, as she squeezed her way through some tough spots. There were points she had to do a series of quick wall running and wall jumps. She was mighty thankful that her auburn hair was short, save for the bangs that outlined the side of her face. As she ran, all people saw was either a streak of pink or balls of green just bouncing back and forth through the streets. The girl wore a pink t-shirt that hugged her blossoming form, a pair of white shorts, with a pouch tied on her right leg, and a pink skirt with cherry blossom embroidery, with a slit on the right side, allowing her access to her pouch.

Her name was Kinomoto Sakura. She was the 15 year old daughter of Kinomoto Fujitaka, and the late Kinomoto Nadeshiko. She had inherited her father's hair colour, only a few shades lighter to make it more of a honey colour, and from her mother, her fair skin, beauty, and her emerald eyes. Sakura was the youngest of two, but was well respected amongst the village. She was the most sought out girl throughout the village and had yet to accept someone as her fiancé. She often responded as she'd rather wait until she found someone she could fall for. No one really understood her cryptic meaning, except the fact it was her way of saying no. Undeterred by her words, males still continued to ask for her hand in marriage.

As she ran through the streets, nearing the academy, she thought back to what had happened a few days prior. Yet another guy had asked for a chance to date her. She didn't know the guy, and yet something told her he wasn't someone to be around, and turned him down. She began to wonder, as she has been doing for the last year, what it would be like to be with a guy who genuinely cared for her. Although there were a few, there was also something that made her hesitant. Most boys were only interested in inheriting the Kinomoto name as it was part of 4 great clans. That really pissed her off, as who ever married her would have control of the individual families within the clan. The last thing she needed was an overbearing, power-hungry oaf leading her clan, much less her family and children. No, she wanted someone who had her as their priority, instead of the clan. Ever since her brother Touya had renounced his status as heir to the Kinomoto leadership, it fell onto Sakura to carry on the clan. All that was left was to find a husband for her. She thanked her lucky stars she still had 3 years to choose before her father was forced to choose. Her thoughts were cut short as she heard the school bell.

"You're kidding me!" she whined as she sprinted through the school building. As she ran through the halls, she knew she was late. She inwardly groaned. She had a bad habit of being late, but normally her sensei didn't mind. However she was told not to be late on this particular day, and she goofed it by sleeping in. She cursed her brother for altering her alarm clock. She made a note to make him pay, somehow.

"Sorry I'm late," Sakura cried out as she entered the room.

"Really Kinomoto-san, I ask that you don't be late for one day, and you come late anyways," her teacher scolded. "In all honesty, do you think a real shinobi would be this late?"

"Gomen nasai, Kodama-sensei," Sakura apologized. She looked up to her teacher, who wore the traditional long sleeved navy blue shirt, rolls up halfway up her forearm, navy blue pants, and slippers with leg bindings, and chuunin flak jacket, to see her shaking her head.

"Well you just missed what you'll be examined on," she sighed as she ran her hand through her shoulder length hair, held back in a ponytail. "I just said that you guys will be tested on Buushin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)." Sakura immediately faltered as she fell into her seat. She mentally freaked as she realized the technique they were going to be using for the exams.

"Of all the skills they had to test, they had to test that one," she whined as she slammed her face into her desk. "Why couldn't they test me on what I'm good at: irou ninjutsu (medical techniques)?"

"Perhaps if you practiced all the skills you learned here, perhaps you wouldn't do so badly," a voice coldly hissed next to her.

"What do you want Li? I'm not in the mood this morning," Sakura groaned as she looked at the person to her right.

"Oh nothing really, except the fact you, the pride and joy of the Kinomoto clan, are nothing more than a disgrace," the person shot back rudely. Sakura sighed and gave him another once over, like she's been doing for the past 3 years since she met the person. The person wore a green sleeveless top, with some sort of Chinese writing on the back, along with green pants, with gold cuffs that hugged his ankles, as well as the waist band, wearing green sandals instead of blue, and around his neck as a pendant of some sort. The person's name was Li Syaoran, heir to the Li Clan, and number one asshole to her, while to the rest of the village, one of the hottest males in the clan. He also happened to be the number one student in the class.

Like her, he was greatly sought after in his clan. With his unruly chocolate brown hair, amber eyes, steel faced expression, he had the heart of every female within the individual branch families of the clan, along with almost every female in the school. Every girl idolized him; with the exception of Sakura.

Ever since Sakura had met Syaoran three years back when she was first started schooling at the academy, Syaoran had caused her nothing but trouble. He often insulted her, tripped her on occasions, showed off whenever she accomplished something, or got her into trouble with Kodama-sensei whenever he rattled her. More often than not he got away, with the occasional backfire on his part. Unfortunately for her, Syaoran never got into too much trouble because of his status. As heir of the Li clan he had certain privileges. However in his case, he had the wrath of his parents to fall back on as a last resort, but he often challenged authority. His attitude proved only to be troublesome that many of the chuunin gave up and let him do whatever. Sakura luckily also received such special treatment but for other reasons. She was considered known as the Emerald Jewel of the Kinomoto Clan, but was also known as the Emerald Jewel of Konoha as well in the ninja world.

"What are you looking at?" Syaoran muttered, drawing Sakura out of her thoughts.

"Oh nothing really," Sakura muttered before directing her attention towards the front as another student left the room. She began to panic. The particular jutsu that she was expected to perform was something she wasn't she often practiced. To think, of all the basics, that one she often fouled up. But the list didn't stop there. Another basic skill was the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique). On more than one occasion she would screw up the transformation and somehow had deformities. She cringed at the memory when she was asked to transform into one of the Hokage. She had chosen Yondaime as her subject. No matter how hard she had tried, she ended up getting his body right, but never his face. She often mixed it up with the features of his predecessor. She remembered at the embarrassment of Syaoran's words. Then there was the fact he showed her up by creating clones and had each of them perform the jutsu, and took on forms of all 8 prior Hokage. It irked her to no end. She often got mad at him for doing it, yet never got angry whenever he showed her up in basics.

That was another thought that had been bugging her. As she waited for her turn, she thought as to why she didn't hate Syaoran. He was cocky, he insulted her, showed her up, harassed her, heck he borderline bullied her, yet she found she never could bring herself to hate him. There was just something about him that prevented her from doing so. She kept her distance from him and interacted with him only when she needed to. As she thought about it, his attitude should make her hate him.

He was cold, he showed no real emotions, not once had he smiled, or at least from her encounters, he only smirked and that was rare, and he never talked to anyone unless he needed to, or was insulting her. Girls would crowd him, holding on to his arms or caressing his cheeks, smouldering him with their so-called undying love and such, and he'd just sit there and let them molest him and such, without a care. She wondered why she often get peeved seeing like that. Then again every guy who either sat there and did nothing while girls touched him, or played with the hearts of the girls got her mad. So that was nothing unusual about that. Only difference was that he was the only one she couldn't bring herself to hate. What was it that made her unable to bring herself to hate him? Sure she respected the guy, but then again, a bit odd to respect someone who always made her mad.

"Kinomoto Sakura," a voice called out, drawing her out from her thoughts. She looked up to see Kodama-sensei in the doorway as she waited patiently for her. Sakura nodded and got up from her seat.

As she turned to leave she heard Syaoran mutter, "Don't create some sort of headless zombie now eh?" Sakura turned around and stuck out her tongue childishly before huffing and walked towards the door.

"What a child," Syaoran muttered under his breath.

Sakura gulped as she stood in the empty classroom, with only a table on the other side of the room where Kodama-sensei sat. On the table was a series of forehead protectors. Each was a neatly folded blue bandana with a metal plate screwed on that had the Hidden Leaf Symbol. To be issued one meant one had graduated from the class. However if one were to fail then one would have to repeat the entire year. Sakura really did not want to go through that embarrassment and prayed with all her heart she could at least make one successful clone.

Sakura took a few deep breaths as she brought her hands up to form the goat seal. The fourth and fifth fingers of both hands folded into her palm while the index and middle straightened. Placing her left over her right, she focused on the task at hand; mould the chakra within her, and use it to create illusions of herself. As she built up the chakra to perform the technique, she prayed that she wouldn't let her family down.

"BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" The chakra expelled from her body exploded in a puff of smoke as it began to assemble the clones. She prayed that she moulded it correctly. For a moment she thought she did until she looked at the two clones beside her. One of them was on the floor, looking like it had got into a fight and lost, the other missing an arm and a leg.

"Sakura," Kodama-sensei groaned in disappointment, "I'm sorry to say, but you failed."

The words, "you failed," rang in her mind as she looked at her clones in disbelief. She had moulded the chakra properly like had been taught to before she even came. She had done everything to the letter, so why did she fail? For that matter how did she fail? Bottom line was that she had failed her exam, and would be held back a year. She sighed sadly as she dispersed her clones, as their purpose no longer existed.

"Hai, sensei," Sakura sadly replied as she slowly walked out of the classroom. She felt tears sting her eyes, but she held them in. She wouldn't let her sensei see that she wanted to cry. She felt horrible. She had just failed her graduation exam big time. She had passed the written exam decently, but the marks required of her to get a pass in the practical examination, which she just failed. She felt so bad. She failed herself, her sensei, and worst of all, she failed the family name. She didn't go back into the classroom where everyone else was; instead she trudged her way outside, and leaned against the only tree on the school grounds.

"Why?" she sadly muttered as she looked up into the sky. "Why did I fail? How could I have failed? I can perform irou ninjutsu but I can't perform a simple academy level ninjutsu? What's wrong with me?"

"Something on your mind?" a voice suddenly asked. Sakura gasped as she looked behind her to see someone standing behind the tree, barely visible, with the exception of the hilt of the sword on the person's back.

"Who's there?" she weakly asked, fearing that the being would be a ghost or a monster of sorts.

"It's alright, Kinomoto-san, I'm Uchiha Sousuke," the person said, as he revealed himself. His getup was much like Kodama, except the shoulder flashes had a fan sewn on. The upper half was a red crescent moon, with the bottom half a white elliptical circle, with a rectangular piece attached at the bottom. He also had a katana strapped to his back, and a series of pouches on his forearms, upper arms, thighs, calves, any place that had easy access had some sort of weapons pouch. He had blue hair held back in a ponytail, with his forehead protector used as a bandana, holding back his bangs. He had blue eyes, a signature genetic trait of the Uchiha clan, and a scar that reached from his right ear to the chin.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kinomoto Sakura," she said, standing up and offering him her hand.

"Likewise," Sousuke replied, taking her hand. "Why the long face?"

Sakura's expression immediately dropped and looked down as she quietly replied, "I failed my graduation exam."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, placing his hand on her shoulders. "Hey, who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and pull of a skill which is more advanced than the average genin."

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"There have been special cases," he replied, as crossed his arms and leaned against the tree. "I mean for instance, Rokudaime Hokage as you know passed by mastering Kage Buushin no Jutsu. Then there was me, I failed my first time, the second time I passed because I used Goukaku no Jutsu in a pinch. Then there was this one Hyuuga kid that used Jyuuken to defend a kid, and a few other instances. So don't worry, and if you don't pull off some sort of special, there's always next year, right?"

"But-but-for crying out loud I'm the heiress to the Kinomoto family name! I'm not supposed to have to repeat the exam! I should have passed it on the first go!"

Sousuke however merely shrugged, "Well it can't be helped then, ne? Just suck it up, and just pray for the best. Besides, I'm sure you'll think of something to make it up." He gave her an assuring smile before he got up and walked into the building.

"What am I going to tell otou-san," she sadly muttered as she leaned against the tree again. Her day just took another nosedive. First she arrived late, and now she failed her exam. It was just her rotten luck. She couldn't believe that she just failed her exam. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore as she let them freely roll down her face. She slid down against the tree as she pulled her knees closer towards her, hiding her face in her knees. She had failed herself, her mother, father, brother, and worst of all; she failed in front of Syaoran. More likely than not he would rub it in her face, and would most likely show up just to rub it up in her face. The last thing she needed was for Syaoran to come up to her and poke fun at her.

"Oi, Kinomoto, what the heck are you doing out here?" and speak of the devil. Sakura didn't have to look up to realize that Syaoran had come out looking for her. She didn't acknowledge him as she continued to silently cry. The last thing she needed was Syaoran to make it worse.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," he called out, his voice much closer than before.

"What do you want?" she bit back, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

"Kodama-sensei asked me to look for you," he replied, boredom in his voice. "Now tell me, what the heck are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be inside, celebrating your graduation with the other idiots?"

"What's it to you that I celebrate with my classmates or not?"

"Nothing really," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Kodama-sensei just asked me to look for you. Now come on, and let's get inside."

He reached down to grab Sakura's arm when she said, "Leave me alone. I failed the exam."

He instantly stopped, "What did you just say?"

"I said I failed," she shouted, looking right up at him. "You happy now? I just failed my exam! So go ahead, rub it in my face!"

Syaoran merely shrugged as he said, "I'm not surprised. You're not exactly good with moulding chakra. Although I must say, for someone who can do irou ninjutsu, you lack the basics to perform the basics of basics."

"YOU INSENSITIVE JERK!" she wailed as she launched a punch into Syaoran's stomach. Syaoran merely sidestepped as he tripped her. She looked up at him scathingly as tears streamed from her face.

"That's what you get for trying to hit me," he point out. "And stop being a baby. But then again…you are a baby if you can't even perform such a simple jutsu." He then walked up to Sakura and kneeled in front of her and got up close to her face. Sakura gasped in surprise, at the sudden change in his demeanour. She felt a tingle in her spine as she suddenly stared into the face of not the annoying Syaoran she knew, but of someone completely different.

"Give up trying to be a ninja," he growled. "You don't belong if you cannot pass the exam in the first run. Even if you do pass, you will only be a hindrance to your team mates. So just give up. You're nothing but a small, insignificant, weakling, who relies on people to help. As far as I'm concerned, you're nothing but leech."

"You asshole," she screamed as out of nowhere she jabbed her finger into Syaoran's thigh. He suddenly yelled in pain as he was suddenly overcome by a Charlie horse.

"What the hell did you do," he groaned painfully as he looked up at Sakura, only to see that her emerald eyes had turned blood red. "What the hell?"

"That's for calling me a leech," she scathingly shot out as fresh tears streamed out of your eyes. "Why do you have to be such an insensitive jerk, huh? Do you get pleasure out of hurting me? Well, what the hell is wrong with you? For three years I've put up with this shit, trying to be nice to you! But what do I get in return? More teasing and insults from your mouth! Now tell me, why the hell you do these things to me!"

"Get rid of this fucking muscle spasm," he groaned painfully, clutching his right leg.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then I will make you regret ever doing that Kinomoto," he shot back in the same dark tone. Sakura looked into his eyes to see a much colder look in his eyes. She saw that he was dead serious if she didn't release him right away. In that instant she felt scared to be near him, yet concerned. She wondered where the dark personality came from. She saw darkness in his eyes, and yet something else. She couldn't exactly make it out, but maybe, just maybe it was the reason why she couldn't bring herself to hate him.

Sakura sighed kneeled next to him as she pressed along a few points along his leg. Syaoran sighed as he felt his leg finally relaxed. Instantly the dark presence disappeared, leaving behind his annoying self. She wondered what was up with him, while hee wondered how she did she did. Both decided to save that question for later.

"Now explain to me, why?" she asked, in a gentler tone.

Syaoran opened his mouth when suddenly, "There you are! I've been looking for you two!" Sakura and Syaoran turned towards the door to see Kodama walking towards them with a sceptical expression on her face. "And why I'm I not surprised you two were fighting again. Just get inside where I'll be explaining some things." They nodded as they followed Kodama back inside, with Sakura lagging behind them.

Soon enough classes were dismissed and everyone was outside as they celebrated their graduation from the academy. Sakura watched sadly as everyone put on their forehead protectors. She looked around, and soon saw Syaoran speaking with his mother, in some sort of serious discussion, as he put on his forehead protector. She had to admit, he did look rather cute with the protector on. Yet she thought that the blue really clashed with his green clothing. As she thought about it, she figured he'd look really handsome if he replaced it with a green cloth instead.

Sakura suddenly shook her head as she found herself thinking about him in that light. That was the first time she thought of him in that manner. Before she could even begin to wonder where the thought came from, an explosion rocked the village. The graduates began to panic as they tried to find their families. Sakura looked towards Syaoran, who had donned on a battle expression, to see him nod a few times towards his mother before they both took off towards where the explosion was. She looked towards the direction they had run off towards to see smoke rising. Judging the distance, she quickly realised the explosion had occurred at the border.

"Sakura!" she looked towards the school gates to see a man, with brown hair, hazel eyes, wearing glasses, and a flak jacket running towards her.

"Otou-san," she called out as she ran up to him.

"C'mon, we're needed at the gates," he said. He suddenly raised his eyebrows in confusion, and took a moment to look around.

"Sakura, where's your protector?"

Sakura looked down solemnly as she whispered, "I failed the exam." Her father looked at her with a saddened expression. Sakura rarely ever felt sad, and whenever she did, it always brought pain to his heart. He smiled gently as he pulled her into a comforting hug.

"It's alright. I'd have been surprised if you surpassed your mother, who retook the test."

"Honto desuka?"

"Hai, she did. So please don't be sad. Now let's go, there are wounded that need to be tended." Sakura nodded as she put on a smile. Fujitaka smiled back before they turned towards the direction of the smoke to leave.

"Just a moment!" they turned around to see Kodama running towards them. "I'm going with you. I was supposed to go to the gates to speak with one of the jounins present after the exams." Fujitaka nodded in agreement. Instantly all three took off as they hopped onto the roof of a nearby building, and began the trek towards where the explosion took place.

As they hopped from building to building, Sakura wondered if she was going to see Syaoran. He did go in the same direction as they were going, so she figured he was going to be there. But how a genin could do anything was beyond her. Although she figured that like her, he had a special talent taught in the clan that allowed him to follow his mother. She had her medical training, so he must've had some sort of combat training if he was going to be there.

"Sakura, get ready, we're almost there," she heard her father say. She looked up ahead to see indeed they were nearing the wall. From what she could tell, due to the forest they were going through, there seemed to be a large chunk of the wall that had been destroyed. How badly she was unsure. She nodded towards her father in affirmation as they neared.

When they had arrived, Sakura gasped at the horrific sight before her. It turned out a whole section of the village wall had been completely destroyed, from top to bottom. Debris was littered the ground before her, as fellow ninjas laid all over in horrendous positions from the injuries. The injuries varied from small cuts, to large gashes, to sprained limbs, to broken limb. Some even suffered burns, of all degrees. Sakura instantly felt faint. In all the years she had spent learning medical techniques, and practicing it on people, she had never seen such injuries. She felt sick. She almost felt like she was about to throw up.

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Fujitaka give her a reassuring smile as he said, "Be strong Sakura. Your okaa-san had dealt with worse when she started. You have to help these people until help can arrive." Sakura nodded affirmatively as she slowly approached a young man leaning against a tree, clutching his knee which was bleeding profusely.

"Hey there," Sakura nervously greeted, her voice laced with nervousness. The injured ninja opened an eye and looked up at her before he chuckled, saying that the injury was nothing more than a scratch. Sakura couldn't help but smile at his optimism. Just looking at the injury, she could tell it was bad. But she wasn't one to let it show. She kneeled down next to the ninja, forming a few hand seals before hands glowed green. She gently placed her hands over the large gash on the person's thigh and began to heal the wound. The ninja's face softened in relief as he fell asleep. Sakura finished up and moved on.

For the entire morning, Sakura did her best to not to break down under the pressure as she went from person to person, healing injuries. Throughout that time, her father, Kodama, and nearby jounins and chuunins scouted the area in an attempt to see who had attacked the village wall. Others were placed on alert as they combed through the city.

Sakura sighed tiredly as she finished up healing up broken bones, or as much as she could without the aid of medical equipment. She looked up sadly at the sky as she wondered how she was able to perform such techniques such as the Shousen Jutsu she had been performing throughout the day. She was exhausted beyond relief. With her limited amount of chakra she could only do so much for each person. She walked up to a tree and sat under its shade as she leaned back. She blinked a few times before she fell asleep.

Not much later, Sakura woke up to see her father and Kodama talking to each other for a moment before they noticed her waking up. They each gave her warm smiles as Fujitaka sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. Sakura willing hugged back as she relaxed into the warm, comforting embrace of her father. They shared many moments like these. She loved her father with all her heart, and wouldn't know what to do if she ever lost him.

"How long was I out for?" she wearily asked, still tired from using so much chakra.

"Not long. Maybe an hour or so," he replied.

"Sakura," Kodama called out. Sakura looked towards her as she kneeled down next to her, with a wide smile.

"I just wanted to say, you did a great job out there considering what happened here, and to also, give you this." Sakura raised an eyebrow as she wondered what Kodama meant. She reached back into a small pouch she carried on her belt, and produced a forehead protector and held it out to her.

"Congratulations, Kinomoto Sakura. You've passed." Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as tears stung her eyes. She couldn't believe it. She passed, she just went up from a complete fail to a pass. She had passed the academy. He was right. The jounin she had spoken to said that she might get lucky and show off more advance skills, and she did. She showed Kodama and her father just how good she was in the field of irou ninjutsu, and she was rewarded by graduating from the academy. She shrieked in happiness as she took the protector and shook her instructor's hand.

"You deserve it," she proudly spoke. "You have the ability, you just lack the practice. I would've had you perform what your clan is known for, but it was a standardized test. I cannot make exceptions in the classroom."

"Thank you," she weakly spoke, as she tried to contain her excitement.

"Congratulations, Sakura," her father spoke. Sakura turned towards her father as she hugged her father, yelling in happiness. Fujitaka couldn't help but smile at her daughter's glee. She had just demonstrated that when needed to, she could do what she was trained to do. As far as he was concerned, she was ready to become a real ninja.

**Yes, yes, most likely a bit of a cheesy chapter, most likely because it followed the same way the series opened up. But bear with me, as I will be pulling ideas from the first few episodes. But don't worry, only from episodes 1 and 3-5 will be used, but not all of it. Anyways, please leave me your comments, and don't expect consistent updates, as I have other stories that I have to work on.**

**Well anyways, that's all from me**

**Cheers Ja ne**


	2. Proving Your Mettle

**My Way of the Ninja**

**Chapter II Proving Your Mettle**

**Due to the fact I had to do some change up in the catagories, I'll update chapter 2 now. Anyways, to those who are familiar with the Naruto storyline, I am currently borrowing the first five episodes, or rather some of the ideas. Don't worry, most likely after this chapter, the ideas will be of my own designs. Anyways, I await your comments. **

Sakura groaned as the morning light shown through the window of her bedroom. She slowly sat up in her bed as she reoriented herself. She smiled happily at the familiarity of her bedroom. It was a fairly simple. The walls were painted yellow, and her bed was situated in the left corner from the door's perspective. The left wall was erect, until it reached about halfway up before the wall angled up to agree with the roof's design. In the middle of the wall was a window that gave Sakura a clear view to a cherry blossom tree, with the horizon beyond the tree. Against the opposite wall in the left corner, was her desk littered with a few books and scrolls. Next to the desk, was simple table with a group of plushies decorating the table, and directly across from her was her closest. Also in the center of the wall was a window, in which the sun currently shone through, at an angle. It really was a modest room.

In the left corner laid a large scroll, leaned into the corner. The scroll was marked with the characters for the word Tiger. She smiled at it, as it served as a one of the few reminders that her mother loved her. She had given her that scroll for her 5th birthday, saying that when she became of ninja, and had enough chakra, she would teach her how to use that scroll. She never got to find out. Soon after her birthday, her mother died in the line of duty. She was on a mission when she her team encountered Sound Ninjas. It was a rescue mission she led. She had ordered her team-mates to run away while she held them off. By the time she was found, she had died, leaving behind a written message to Sakura, for her to read when she became a Genin.

Sakura suddenly gasped remembering being told about a message her mother wanted her to read when she was older. She got out of bed, grabbed the clothes she wore yesterday, and ran into the bathroom, as she began her morning business. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and the like. As she put on her clothes, she took a moment to look at the birth mark on her left shoulder. It was a short curvy line. It wasn't much, but often reminded her of the few fond memories she had of her mother. As she pulled on the rest of her clothes, she thought back to some of the more fun times they had. There wasn't much, but each and every one of them she cherished dearly in her heart. She had never forgotten her mother, and never would. She often wished she could talk to her, but she more often than not could somehow feel her spirit whenever she needed her. It was enough for her.

"Sakura-san," a voice called out. Sakura looked up to see that her father stood in front of her. She smiled at the sight of her father. His soft chestnut hair, and eyes, glasses, just everything about him she loved about him. He also happened to be a highly ranked Jounin, and for a time served in the ANBU before she was born. Currently he only sported a pair of sweats, revealing his well toned body. Despite the fact most of the ninja's were extremely thin, most had incredibly great physique. She often blushed whenever she saw some of the Chuunins and Jounins walking around without shirts. It was only her father that she ever felt comfortable around.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, otou-san," Sakura cheerily greeted her father. He smiled as he held out a scroll.

"Is that it?" she asked anxiously as she slowly reached out for the scroll.

"Hai, Sakura-san, this is the message your mother left behind," Fujitaka warmly replied as he placed the scroll into her trembling hands. "Know that she loved you and your brother dearly. Always remember that, Sakura." Sakura nodded her head as she held the scroll close to her heart. She thanked her father, and slowly walked around to find a safe spot to read. Considering the amount of clan members that lived in the manor, she often found it hard to get some privacy. Even in her own room people often came in to speak with her.

As she walked around, she suddenly found herself walking around the edge of the courtyard. She looked towards the courtyard on her left to see several other clan members sitting on the ground meditating. Often the main courtyard did provide itself to be a place of tranquility where people could meditate. It used to be maintained by her mother. It was rather simple, some flower patches here, a couple trees there, but somehow the arrangement just brought the best out of everyone whenever they entered there. Sakura let out a sigh before she continued her search for a private room.

She slid open a door to suddenly realise she had found her mothers old work room. It was empty now, but she had a lot of fond memories in that particular room. Growing up, her mother would take her into the room, and set her down into the play pen, where she would watch her mother perform or research various techniques. It also served as a place for where they could just hang out for hours and hours.

Sakura smiled at the memories as she slowly closed the door behind her, and sat down on the dusty wooden floor. She didn't really care if it was dusty or not. She just wanted to be somewhere familiar. She sighed as she slowly broke the seal and read the contents.

_To my lovely Sakura,_

_You already know that I wrote this with my dying breath. I am so sorry that I cannot be with you to see you graduate, fall in love, or grow up into the beautiful woman I know you will become. Please forgive me, Sakura._

_I've written this just to give you a little bit of advice. The real world is a cruel place where you will face many hardships. Especially since the line of jutsu you specialise in will, most likely irou ninjutsu, you will be faced with injuries that will scar your mind, and enemy ninjas who will be intent on killing you to eliminate the support. Sakura you must be strong. You must face these hardships head on and fight with all your heart. Only if you are prepared to fight that you can withstand these hardships. I'm sure along the way you will make friends who will be there to support you, and help you, along with your first Jounin instructor, whom I'm sure will teach you many new skills._

_An old proverb I had learned when I became a Genin, "Those that do not follow the rules are called trash. But those that don't take care of their friends are worse than trash." A proverb to surely live by, for Rokudaime Hokage lived his life like that. I hope you find friends who will be loyal to you. I wish you the best of luck._

_I love you Sakura, and I will always be in your heart_

_Nadeshiko_

"Okaa-san," Sakura choked out as tears started to stream down her face. It was hard enough to read it, but she never knew it was written her own blood. Even dying, her mother's writing was as elegant as ever. She silently cried as she reread the message. She missed her mother dearly. Ever since they brought her body in, she struggled to be like her mother. She wanted to honour her memory. She had almost forgone her childhood if it weren't for her brother Touya who told her that being a ninja also meant knowing when to let go and relax.

"Thank you okaa-san," Sakura murmured as she held the message close to her heart. It was her first and last piece of advice from her mother. She would cherish it with all her heart. She would make her proud. She would become the number one irou ninja that her mother once was. It was once said that her mother had ranked 4th or 5th below the late Godaime Hokage. Tsunade was the best in her own time. She was the one who had set the standard in which most irou ninjas strived to surpass. She vowed to be one of those who surpassed the standards.

She rolled up the scroll and headed back into her room, where she opened up a drawer with her few prized possession. The kunai her mother had crafted out of wood, a pink bandanna she used to wear growing up, and now she added the message of her mother's to the contents. She quickly closed the drawer and left the room again, and looked around the house, to soon find her brother eating breakfast in family room. He looked up at her and smiled.

He had dark brown hair and eyes, a bit of a pointed chin, and a smug expression that annoyed her to no end. Her brother Touya often enjoyed harassing her, although she always paid him back by crushing his foot. Today wouldn't be any different. One crack from him she would do something similar.

"Ohayo onii-san," Sakura greeted as she sat down across from her brother.

"Ohayo kaijuu," Touya lazily greeted.

"Sakura no Kaijuu!" Sakura shrieked as she whaled her brother across the head.

"Doesn't matter if you're a Genin or a Jounin, I'm still going to call you that," Touya smirked. Sakura merely huffed as someone from the kitchen brought her breakfast.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Sayuka-san," Sakura thanked before muttering, "Itadakimasu!"

"No problem, Sakura-san," she replied before going back into the kitchen. As she ate, she noticed her brother blushing as his eyes trailed the girl until she disappeared into another room.

"Say onii-san, why did you give the position of heir to the clan to me?" Sakura asked through a piece of toast.

"Hmm, well let's see," he lazily replied. "I'm still a Chuunin when I should be a Jounin, I'm already of age, and I have no one in mind that could help me take over. Besides, you're more popular within the clan, and throughout the entire village. It makes you an ideal candidate."

"I see," she replied as she continued eating her breakfast. "By the way, why are you staring at Sayuka-san eh? You've got a thing for her now?"

"Why are you still here? Don't you have classes in 5 minutes?" Sakura raised an eyebrow and looked at the clock behind her.

"HOE!" she shrieked. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING TO BE LATE AGAIN!" She shot up from her seat, and bolted out of the room. As she left the room she could hear her brother laughing his head off. Every single time he always did that to her. He always kept her busy until the last five minutes without her knowing. Then at the last minute, he somehow pops up the question of if she was going to be late or not, and in the end, she ends up being late. She had vowed to make her brother pay, but had yet to figure out how.

She quickly put her shoes on before bolting off towards the academy as fast as she could. As she ran, she literally had to jump off walls to make her way. She eventually reached the rooftops and began to run as fast as she could.

She suddenly saw the familiar academy roof, and landed on it, as she entered the building through the fire escape. Then as fast as her legs could carry her, she ran towards her classroom, just to see Kodama approaching the room. Using whatever speed she could muster, she pushed it as she entered the classroom right in front of Kodama.

"Well for once, you actually beat me here by a second," Kodama said aloud in a sarcastic tone. The class snickered at the comment as Sakura walked up towards her seat while Kodama took her spot in front of the class. Sakura slumped down into her seat as Kodama sorted through a few pieces of paper.

"Why are you here? I thought you failed?" a voice muttered next to her.

"I got a chance to prove I'm Genin material at the accident site," she muttered, too tired to talk back.

"How, but showering the area with cherry blossoms?"

"Why you-"

"Alright then, in a moment, Jounins will be entering the classroom," Kodama said aloud, drawing everyone's attention, effectively cutting the conversation between Sakura and Syaoran. "Each of you will be divided into three-man cells, in which they will explain what you will be doing with him or her." The door suddenly opened as ninjas starting to file into the room, all of them dressed similarly as Kodama, with various add-ons that made each one unique.

"The teams will be based on how each team member will be able to support one another. The teams are as follows: Team 1…" the list went on as she divided the students into the individual teams. Soon enough the class dwindled to the point it was only her, Syaoran, and a third boy she never noticed. Oddly enough, he sat next to Syaoran.

"Umm sensei," Sakura called out, "what about us? Where's our Jounin instructor?"

"Well actually, he made the oddest request," Kodama replied as she read the final team. "You three are supposed to meet him up at the Hokage monument."

"Nani?" Sakura whined. "You're kidding me!"

"Nope, so you better hurry up if you don't want to be late. You're instructor said something about finding him sitting or sleeping on the railings, whatever that means." Sakura sighed as she, Syaoran, and the third boy got up and left the classroom, to meet their instructor. As they made their way towards the monument, Sakura took a gander at the rock face.

Carved into the wall of the rock wall, were the heads of all 9 legendary Hokage. On the far left were heads of Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, founders of the village, powerful ninjas in their own time, and legends in their own right. The third head was of Sandaime Hokage, who sacrificed his own life 50 years ago when Orochimaru and his Sound Ninja's attacked the village 50 years ago. Next was Yondaime Hokage, the hero that sealed the legendary Kyuubi demon. Then there was the head of Godaime Hokage the legendary Sannin, Tsunade. She was the first female Hokage, and the one who had enforced the policy of having one medical ninja assigned to every team. Next to hers was the all powerful Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. He too had left a great mark upon the village. It was said his hard working spirit had passed on, into everyone, and indeed it was observed those who had the will and ambition to achieve their dreams were the hardest workers, and some of the best in the village. Then the head on the very far right was his descendant, Hyuuga Naruto. It was well known that Naruto had married Hyuuga Hinata, but kept his original surname, but bore the Hyuuga clan symbol. All subsequent descendants however took the Hyuuga name.

"This is taking too long, let's just jump our way there," Syaoran suddenly said, cutting off Sakura's gaze into history. She and the other person nodded as she leapt after Syaoran, as they tried to keep up. They soon found themselves below the faces of the great Hokages. They looked around for a moment before they saw a ninja sitting on the railings, much like a frog would. His arms were crossed, and somehow he was able to balance on his feet on the small railing. His eyes were covered by his protector, so they couldn't get a clear view of his face.

Sakura slowly approached the ninja as she slowly reached out to gain the ninja's attention. As she neared, she suddenly heard a peculiar sound. She did a double take from surprise. Strangely the noise sounded much like the snort of the pig. Her mind suddenly froze as an image of a pig faced Jounin appeared in her mind. Shaking the idea out of her head, she brought her head close to the ninja's face. She nearly face faulted as she realised that the ninja was snoring. Sakura looked at him weirdly, as she wondered how he was able to sleep yet remained balanced.

"What's taking you so long?" Syaoran growled out, highly annoyed at the wait.

"He's…I think he's asleep," Sakura answered back.

"Are you sure he's asleep?" the other boy asked, in surprise.

"I'm positive that he is-"

"He was asleep, before you disturbed his nap," a voice suddenly said, cutting Sakura off.

"HOE!" Sakura screeched as she jumped back in surprise and right into Syaoran's arms. Both looked into one another before they backed away from each other. A blush crept up Sakura's face while Syaoran scowled at the sudden contact.

"Just sit down before you create a ruckus," the ninja muttered as he pulled his protector back. "By the way, I told you that you'd have your chance Kinomoto-san." Sakura looked up at the ninja curiously.

"It's you! You're the person I spoke to yesterday!"

"That I am," Sousuke replied with a smile. "And I am not too surprised that Kodama let you passed. She always did have a bit of a soft spot. Much like her grandfather Iruka."

"Wait a second, you know this Jounin?" Syaoran asked in surprised.

"Well I met her yesterday after she had failed her exam," Sousuke explained. "Anyways, enough about yesterday, let's get on with the introductions, ne?"

"Introductions?" Syaoran asked, feeling highly annoyed by the idea of having to introduce himself.

"What should we say?" the unknown boy asked.

"Oh nothing really, just things you like, dislike, dreams for the future, hobbies, and that entire sort off stuff. Just basics to put it simply."

"Then why don't you introduce yourself first then, _sensei_," Syaoran muttered, emphasizing sensei.

"Eh why not," he replied. "I'm Uchiha Sousuke, of the Uchiha Clan. I have no intention of telling you what I like. I dislike idiots who think they can do things by themselves. My hobbies…hmm…I'd say that it would involve either training with my Murasame Sword, or working on this vegetable patch I grow in my backyard. Dreams…oh…that's a toughie…I'd say start a family soon. That's about it. Let's start with you then, blue haired boy."

"Hai sensei," the boy replied. Sakura looked to the boy next to Syaoran. He had blue hair and eyes, glasses, somewhat pale skin, and a wide smile, that she swore was unnatural. He wore simple clothing, a t-shirt, and a pair of shorts, with a pouch strapped to his right thigh.

"I am Hiiragizawa Eriol, of the Li Clan. I dislike it when my cousin is this grouchy, my hobbies…too many to name. As for what I like and what my dreams are, I'd say they revolve around a girl named Daidouji Tomoyo."

"Oh good lord," Sousuke muttered.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Sakura asked in concern.

"Teaching her was not fun," he muttered. "She was assigned to me two years ago when she became a Genin. Her style of dress was rather…interesting, to put it mildly." Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Tomoyo was her cousin, and she had an affinity, with creating clothes. Whenever she could, she would design clothes for herself, and Sakura, but more often than not, she used to use Sakura as her fashion dummy whenever she came up with a new idea.

"I know what you mean, Sousuke-sensei," Sakura spoke, sympathetically.

"Yeah, yeah, let's move on shall we. You're up next," Sousuke muttered, looking directly at Sakura.

"My name is Kinomoto Sakura. I love cherry blossom trees, I dislike this idiot here who's always bugging me," pointing towards Syaoran, who shot her an annoyed look. "My hobbies…actually come to think of it I don't really have any. As for my dream; it's to surpass my late mother as a medical ninja."

"Hmm, sounds simple enough. What about you?"

"I am Li Syaoran, heir to the Li clan. Yes, before you ask, Hiiragizawa is my cousin within the clan. I only like peony flowers; that's all. I highly dislike this idiots annoying smile, as he smiles way too often. I have no hobbies as I train everyday, as for dreams, I have none. Never did, and I never will. My only goals are to surpass my father, allowing his spirit to rest with the rest of the clan leaders, and to kill 100 Sound Ninja's to avenge my father."

"Is that what caused him so much pain? That incident 10 years ago?" she muttered to herself.

"So he's still trying to achieve that goal," Sousuke muttered. "Well then, you're all interesting people. You've made a good impression so far. Anyways, we'll start our missions the day after tomorrow."

"Why not tomorrow, or today for that matter?" Syaoran growled.

"Because there is something we are going to do with just the four of us tomorrow," Sousuke replied back, ignoring the bite in Syaoran's voice.

"And what would that be?"

"Survival training," Sousuke simply replied.

"Survival training," Eriol repeated, as he rubbed his chin.

"More training?" Sakura groaned. "Why do we have to do more training? We've done more than enough of it at the Academy!"

"This isn't your normal training."

"Then what kind of training is it, Uchiha-sensei," Eriol asked.

"You are definitely going to flip when I tell you this but uh … actually I'll just be blunt. Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be selected as Genins. The rest go back to the academy. This training is a highly difficult test, with a failure rate of over 66 percent."

"Nani?" Syaoran sharply blurted.

"Hoe!" Sakura squealed in shock.

Eriol merely had an annoyed expression on his face.

"See, see, I told you that you guys flipped," Sousuke teased, smiling at the shocked expression of their faces.

"Then what was the point of graduation if only 9 will become Genin?" Syaoran growled, not amused at the fact he might have to redo the academy.

Sousuke merely scoffed at the question, "That's just to select who have a chance to be a Genin."

"Naniii!" Sakura whined. "But we worked so hard! How can our work be for nothing?"

"Hence the purpose of this test. All graduates will be tested today or tomorrow. I will be grading you on the training field. Bring all of your Shinobi equipment, and assemble at 9:00 A.M." Sousuke sat there for a minute as he let his words sink in. He could tell from the expressions on their faces they were contemplating the consequences of failing the mission. In particular, he couldn't help but smile at Syaoran's expression. To be sent back to the academy would be an insult to his kin. Sakura on the other hand was panicking. She always did have a bad habit of panicking before exams. Eriol however, intrigued him the most. The expression told him he was more contemplating on what the test would be about.

"Well then, dismissed." He got up to leave when he remembered something. "Oh, and do yourselves a favour and skip breakfast. You'll throw up." And in a puff he disappeared leaving all three stunned as they wondered what kind of training they would do.

"Hoe, I was not expecting to be tested a Jounin," Sakura moaned.

"He's a skilled one too," Eriol commented.

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"

"By the looks on his face, he's seen a lot of combat. Then there was the face he had a few scars on his forearms, plus the one on his face," said Eriol as he recounted his observations. "He's also apparently either paranoid in combat, or it's something else, considering how many of those kunai pouches he had, along with those four shuriken packs on his calves."

"So that just means he relies heavily on those," Syaoran scoffed. "Big deal, it's not like he'll be using them."

"I suppose so," Eriol muttered before he got up. "Anyways, I'm going for a walk. I'll see you guys tomorrow morning. Ja ne, Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan."

"Sayonara Eriol-kun," Sakura called out to his shrinking form as he walked down the stairs.

"So Syaoran, what are your plans-" Sakura turned around to see that he had disappeared already. "That bastard," she muttered. She sighed as she stared up at the sky.

"Okaa-san, what did you do for your test," she asked aloud. Sadly, she got no response. She sighed sadly as she left the same way Eriol did.

The following morning everyone gathered in the training field as they waited for Sousuke to show up to being their mission. Sakura took a moment to see what the other two brought. Eriol was now sporting a blue t-shirt, with the Li Clan symbol emblazoned on the chest, a pair of white shorts, a few scrolls on his belt, and a kunai pouch strapped to his right thigh. Syaoran merely sported the same sleeveless green top, green pants, and green sandals. He had changed the cloth to be a black, as it did work with his clothes. The hemming around the arms, waist, neck, and the zipper of his shirt were black, along with his name written in Japanese on his left chest. He also had a large scroll behind him, below his rucksack, as well as a sword on his back. Sakura took a moment to examine her equipment. Nothing really special, except she wore her forehead protector, had a pair of black gloves, along with the same top, skirt, and shorts. She had nothing really noticeable.

"Ohayo," a voice greeted. They looked behind Sakura to see that Sousuke had shown up, but had dressed a bit differently. He still wore the navy blue pants; however he didn't wear the standard top. Instead he wore a royal blue, high collared, short sleeved shirt, a signature article of clothing in the Uchiha clan. On the shoulders, the clan symbol had been stitched on. Strapped to the back of his flak jacket was a katana, to his waist, was what appeared to be four large golden kunai, to facing the left, two facing the right. He also had kunai pouches on each shoulder, one each side, one on the outside of each thigh, and four shuriken pouches, on the inside and outside of his calves.

"Hoe," Sakura muttered under her breath.

"Interesting," Eriol commented, from all the equipment.

"Hmpf," was all Syaoran said as he crossed his arms. "Let's get on with it."

"Fine, fine," Sousuke muttered as he put his pack down. "Just let me take off some of this gear."

"Huh?" everyone asked.

"Well you don't expect me to be using this entire gear do you? I'd probably kill you guys by accident!" Sousuke stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He undid the buckles on his flak jacket that held his sword, and stabbed the katana into the ground, then pulled out all the kunai on the shoulders and side, and placed them on the hilt of his katana. He then pulled out the four gold blades, to reveal, that each blade was actually supported by half a shuriken. He flicked his wrists a bit to let the blades snap out to look like boomerangs before snapping the weapons together, to make it a massive shuriken.

"This, by the way, was the Murasame Sword I was talking about yesterday," he explained as he tossed it into the ground. He quickly undid the pouches strapped to his calves, and placed them next to the rest of his gear.

"Now, I'll explain your mission," he said, as he took out a clock, and winded it. "This clock will be set to ring at noon." He placed the clock down on the center stump behind them. They suddenly heard a jingling sound, to see that he had pulled out two bells.

"The mission, to take these two bells from me by noon. Those who fail to grab said bells will get no lunch. The punishment is whoever fails to get a bell, will be tied to one of those posts. In addition, I along with those who passed will eat lunch in front of the people who are tied. Oh and before you go jumping the gun, I told you not to eat breakfast, because of my calibre. I will make you throw up if you're not careful."

"Wait, Sousuke-sensei," Sakura called out, "why only two bells? There are three of us."

"I'm guessing two bells, mean that one of us will surely fail," Eriol explained.

"He's correct," Sousuke replied. "The one who is tied to the post is sent back to the academy. However, it could just be one or all three of you. Anyways, the mission involves you three coming at me with killer intent. You may use whatever means necessary to gain the bells. And don't worry; I won't have problems handling you guys, so give me your best. Any questions before we start?"

"So when you say do our best, you mean we can use any means we've got?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes I do," Sousuke replied. "However, I don't think that you do anything with that particular skill just yet." Syaoran scowled at the comment, while Eriol snickered. Sakura however looked at them clueless, wondering what they were talking about.

"Don't ask Kinomoto-san. It's something related to the Li clan head family." Sakura merely nodded as she put her backpack down, and quickly went over her gear. Seeing that her skirt might get in the way, she undid it and left it with her bag. She thanked herself for not wearing the same pair of shorts she wore yesterday. Syaoran dropped pack, and unsheathed his jian sword. Eriol dropped his pack, stretched for a moment, and then prepared himself.

"San, ni, ichi, STARTO!"

**So what are your thoughts? It's probably lame, but I need reviews to see if I should make this one of my regulars. So please give me your thoughts and comments, and we'll see if I'll be updating this regularly.**


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